Letter-box



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. J. W. CUTLER.

LETTER BOX.

Patented June 24, 1890.

l/Vl/E/VTOI? I By Afforneya. z W

' WITNESSES (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. J. W. CUTLER.

LETTER BOX.

No. 430,626. Patented June 24, 1890.

WITNESSES //V VENJOR 1: NORRIS PEYERS an, wnoro-umm, WASHINr-YON, 0 c4 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH WVARREN CUTLER, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK.

LETTER-BOX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 430,626, dated June 24, 1890.

Application filed January 20, 1890 Serial No, 337,471. (No model.)

To aZZ whom, it may concern.-

Be itknown thatLJOSEPH WARREN CUTLER, of the city of Rochester, county of Monroe, and State of New York, have invented certain new and usefullmprovementsin Letter-Boxes; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and to letters of reference marked thereon.

My present invention relates to improvements in letter-boxes and connections particularly applicable to the mailing chutes or connections described in Patents Nos. 336,038 and 390,347, and has for its object to provide means for preventing the introduction of newspapers loosely folded or packages so large as to be liable to clog the chute or letter box; and to this end it consists in certain improvements in construction and combinations of parts, the novel features of which will be pointed out in the claims at the end of this specification.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is an end elevation of my improved guard; Fig. 2, a side view, partly in section, which latter is taken on the line as a: of Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a top plan view; Fig. 4, a view showing its application to a mailing-chute; Fig. 5, an. end view of a slight modification; and Figs. 6 to 12 are views of further modifications.

Similar letters of reference in the several figures denote similar parts.

Heretofore the objection has been raised to the use of mailing-chutes that loosely-folded newspapers or bulky packages might be compressed slightly and forced into the mailingapertures, and which after expanding would clog the chute and prevent subsequently-deposited matter from reaching the receivingbox below, or that boxes intended to be filled with letters and first-class mail-matter might be filledwith newspapers or othermatter of less importance. In order to obviate these obj ections, which, perhaps, are not without some force, I propose to employ a guard for preventing access to the true mailing-aperture, regulating the size of the mail-matter, so that the newspaper or other article cannot be compressed sufficiently close to said aperture as to permit its introduction.

In Figs. 1 to 4 I have shown, perhaps, the simplest form of my invention, consisting of a plate or guard A, having a slot B therein, the edges of which are preferably turned up slightly and serrated or provided with a series of projections b, as shown, said aperture being of a size capable of receiving the largest article it is desired to have enter the-letterbox or chute. Extending over this aperture are flanges or guards 0, preferably slightly wider apart than the edges of slot B and preventing access to the latter, so that while a folded newspaper might be compressed at the end and forced into the opening in the guard its subsequent expansion would cause it to abut against the sides of slot B and prevent its further movement, and even if one corner should be passed into the latter slot the corrugations or projections I) would arrest its lateral movement and prevent its being crowded down into the box or chute, as might be done' if the edges were smooth. As a convenient manner of constructing this guard cheaply, and also facilitating its application to chutes or mailing-receptacles now in use, I prefer to form it from asingle blank of sheet material, the aperture B being formed by punching out a piece While the guard-flanges A are turned up, as shown, over it and the ends D, constituting lugs or ears, are turned down and perforated, serving as the means for attachment by a screw or screws c, sub stantially as shown in Fig. 4, E representing the chute, and F the forward projection containing the usual mailing-aperture. In stead of leaving the ends of the guard open, it might be desirable in some instances to cover them by means of a plate Gr, as in Fig. 5, which would also prevent the guard-flanges from being turned down by maliciously-disposed persons or by accident.

Instead of making the guard of sheet material, as shown, it could as well be cast or formed in any other desired manner or applied to a chute or box by other means than that described.

In Figs. 6, 7, and 8 are shown top plan, crosssectional, and longitudinal sectional views of a modification of the device shown in the first five figures, the mailing-aperture be ing formed byjaws or plates H H, pivoted on pins h and held against suitable stops 2" by springs J, though capable of movement toward each other, as in dotted lines, Fig. 7, to narrow the opening between them. The upper sides of these jaws are roughened or provided with serrations or teeth, as shown, and the flanges A of the casing to which they are attached or in which they are mounted are arranged a slightly greater distance apart than said jaws are normally, so that while a small letter or paper might be introduced readily, a larger one, though it might pass between guard-flanges A, would strike the jaws and cause the latter to turn in, contracting the opening, as shown in Fig. 7 in dotted lines, or if the friction between any portion of the article and the edges of the jaws should be too great the jaws would turn toward each other .and grip it, preventing its entering the box or chute, as will be understood. In Figs. 9 and 10 substantially the same arrangement of pivoted jaws is shown, except that they are retracted to normal position by counter- Weights J.

In Figs. 11 and 12 are shown cross and longitudinal sections of another form, in which, as before, there is a guard over the true depositing-aperture; but in this instance, in-

stead of corrugations being formed upon the jaws, they are composed of separate weighted plates or pieces L, hung upon suspending-rods 'M, and having the hooked or projecting en'ds L, between which ordinary letters can pass, but upon which newspapers will catch. The object in making these plates separate is to prevent the whole of the aperture being enlarged by inserting the corner of a paper or package and then by slidingit laterally crowd the whole in,as even if some of the plates are forced back the others would form laterally immovable abutments, preventing this obj ection.

, it is therefore immaterial whether it is above The aperture B is the true mailing-aperturethat is, the opening through which the the usual aperture of the chute, as in Fig. 4, or below it.

It is obvious that this invention can be employed in connection with 'ordinary letterboxes or in other places where it may be desirable.

I claim as my invention 1. The combination, with a mail-receptacle provided with an unobstructed receiving-aperture with substantially straight projecting flanges or projections on one or both sides thereof, of a guard for preventing direct access to the receiving-aperture, having an unobstructed opening corresponding to the latter, substantially as described.

. 2. The combination, with a mail-receptacle provided with an unobstructed receiving-aperture with substantially straight projecting flanges or projections on one or both sides, of a guard for preventing direct access to the i'eceivingapei'ture, having an unobstructed opening slightly smaller than the latter, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with a mail-receptacle provided with a receiving-aperture having a series of substantially straight projections on one or both sides, of a guard for preventing direct access to the receiving-aperture, having an opening corresponding to the latter, substantially as described.

4. A guard for mail-receptacles, having an aperture therein with substantially straight projecting flanges or projections at the sides, and the flanges turned over and projecting above the aperture, substantially as described.

5. A guard for mail-receptacles, having an aperture therein with substantially straight shoulders at the sides, the two flanges turned over and projecting above said aperture, and

the securing flanges or plates thereon, substantially as described.

JOSEPH WARREN CUTLER. 

